Sweet Valley Confidential: Life Goes On
by bloodredcherries
Summary: The Wakefields' lives were changed by the events of the past 8 months. Was it all a mistake? Was it just a bad dream? Can things return to normal? Find out in Sweet Valley Confidential: Life Goes On.
1. Heartbreaker

Chapter 1

_One sweet dream, pick up the bags, and get in the limousine.  
>Soon, we'll be away from here,<br>Step on the gas and wipe that tear away.  
>One sweet dream came true today,<br>Came true today,  
>Came true today.<em>

Steven Wakefield sometimes wondered if his divorce from Cara was a bit hasty, though he rarely voiced those thoughts aloud, especially around Aaron, but he had to admit that he had his suspicions that he wasn't exactly, well, gay. Sure, he liked being around Aaron-he was quite attractive-but he wasn't exactly in love with him. And when his father made daft comments about "having three sons in law soon" at his flighty sister's wedding, the same flighty sister who'd ruined his marriage, it had caused him to think. And thinking with Steven rarely ended well, at least that was how it had been recently. (Actually, he supposed a bit of thinking would have been helpful in avoiding this entire situation.) Add in the fact that his father had hired some new lawyer and it was his job to train her (her name sounded familiar, but he was certain he'd never met her before) and it was frankly a miracle he was functioning at all.

He'd taken off his wedding band the night before. He hadn't wanted to, but Aaron had caused it to "disappear" while he was in the shower, and he didn't want to press the subject. He had failed. It had all been his fault. And sometimes he missed her. He really, really did. She'd been his wife. They'd been in love-at least once upon a time-and he'd thrown it away. And for what? A lousy romp in the sand that hadn't even been really good-he'd been drunk and stupid-with Aaron Dallas-and a chance run in with his sister-and it had all been thrown away.

This sucked. He really didn't want to fake nice with his father's new lawyer, Billie McAllery or whomever she was. (Perhaps he should have been paying attention to his father when he'd been telling him, but it wasn't like it would have helped any.) He wanted to disappear. To just leave. To escape. But after the two times Elizabeth had done so, escaping was less and less appealing.

His cell phone rang and he checked his caller id-unsurprised when Aaron's name came up. He ignored it, wishing more than anything that his...boyfriend would get the hint that he really didn't like him to call while he was at the office. He was almost as bad as his mother! He was 29 years old-he really didn't need to be constantly talking to him. He was almost like a little kid, constantly underfoot.

"God, just leave me alone!"  
>"Is it a bad time? I can come back!"<br>"What? Oh, no, I wasn't talking to you. My friend keeps trying to call me, that's all. I'm Steven Wakefield."

In front of him was a beautiful woman, dressed in a skirt that clinged lightly to all the right places and a sweater that showed just a hint of her cleavage. He tried to not look, he really did, focusing on her face instead.

"I know. I'm Billie Winkler. Your new co-worker. Your father said you were in charge of me."

She laughed a bit, tossing her hair over her shoulders, and he smiled at her, abandoning the phone on his desk as he went to shake her hand.

"Dad said you were named Billie McAllery."  
>"I was. We got divorced. Or, we're getting divorced, anyways. We married too young, that's all. Things fall apart."<p>

She shrugged. He tried to remember where he'd heard the name McAllery before, after all, it sounded familiar-Jessica's first husband. Mike McAllery. His father would accidentally do that, wouldn't he?

"Mike McAllery?"  
>"You know him? How do you know him?"<br>"He was my brother-in-law. Years ago."  
>"Oh. Then I was his rebound. You're Jessica's brother? She must have been nice. He's still stuck on her, I think."<p>

Nice? Jessica? His sister? Jessica? Nice? Steven gaped at his new coworker. Jessica could apparently destroy people's marriages without even knowing it. Billie continued to speak.

"Not that it matters. I finished my degree-I'd had daft ideas on becoming a classical guitarist but that certainly doesn't help you pay the rent-and here I am. She doesn't work here, does she?"  
>"No. She doesn't work at all. She got fired from her cosmetics company."<br>"Well, then. I'm sorry you have to deal with that."  
>"Thanks. What kind of law are you focusing on?"<p>

His father's firm dealt with all sorts of law styles, it was important to ask. He motioned for her to sit in the extra chair in his office, and she sat, following his lead. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was.

"Family, ironically. I specialized in tax law, too."  
>"Same as me. Have you practiced?"<br>"No. I was a private music teacher for awhile, and once I realized things were going south, I just went back to law school and applied to work here. I was surprised to get hired, actually. This is a top law firm, after all."

He had his suspicions that his father and the other partners had been swayed by her appearance, but he didn't say anything. Just like he hadn't told her about Aaron. He just couldn't. He was sick of everything, and if his beautiful coworker wanted to talk to him, he'd be more than happy to let her.

"I-"  
>"Look, Steven. I know I only got the job because of how I look. And I'm fine with that. It's almost refreshing to be noticed."<br>"Didn't you go to SVU?"  
>"Yes. I was a musiceconomics major. We went to school together. You probably don't remember me, you were hung up on your girlfriends all the time. Didn't you get married?"  
>"I was married. To Cara-she went to SVU too."<p>

_She said she'd always been a dancer,  
>She worked at fifteen clubs a day.<br>And though she thought I knew the answer;  
><em>_Well, I knew that I could not say._

"I know. You lived above us. And Jessica would always come around-asking to borrow sugar from us and whatnot. I never got a break. I just assumed she was only your wife's friend and not your kid sister. What happened to the two of you?"  
>"Oh, you know. Things. Jessica, ironically."<p>

He would not mention Aaron. She didn't need to know.

"What happened to her, anyways? Is she still baking?"  
>"Whom?"<br>"Jessica."  
>"No."<p>

They fell into a silence that was somewhat comfortable. Well, as comfortable as it could be for two people who'd recently had their marriages ruined by his kid sister.

His office phone rang, and he gritted his teeth before answering it.

"The Wakefield-West Law Offices, Family Law department, Steven Wakefield, Attorney at Law, speaking. May I ask to whom I am speaking?"  
>"Steven, darling, did you miss my call?"<p>

Thank heavens it was his mother.

"Sorry, Mom. I'm with the firm's new lawyer, Billie Winkler. What's up?"  
>"I'm afraid I'm a bit confused by the...Steven, your sister is sleeping with Hank's son!"<br>"Oh, Mom, Jessica waits to destroy marriages after the ink is dried on the forms, you know that."  
>"Not Jessica! Elizabeth!"<br>"Now, Mom, you know that we shouldn't be spreading rumors-"  
>"I found your sister crying! You know she only cries after making love!"<p>

"Mom..."  
>"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. By the way, we saw Cara yesterday-"<br>"I said to leave Cara alone."  
>"And you know who fixed my car? Jessica's ex-husband. He's single, dear."<br>"Mom, shut up. Just shut up."  
>"Why, dear?"<br>"Because I am meeting with the new lawyer. Billie? Remember her? The one Dad just hired to work with me in family law with tax concentration?"  
>"My heavens! Oh, and dear, have you been ignoring Aaron too? He says you have."<br>"Mom..."  
>"What? I merely want to help!"<br>"Well, you're not. Tell Aaron to lay off."

He'd decided it. He was going to spend the night in a hotel. Alone. Again. He couldn't deal with this right now.

Where had he gone wrong?


	2. When Love Dies

Chapter 2

Some days, Billie Winkler wished that her marriage hadn't exploded. That they'd stuck it out. That she still had someone to come home to. That she still had someone who loved her. Who wanted her. That she wasn't alone. Today, like most other days, was one of those days. But her marriage had ended, and she was. Nine years. Nine years-gone. Done, just like that. She hated him. It was easy to hate him. But she was to blame, too. She'd married him so soon after his first marriage, which she knew had been nothing short of a disaster, yet he held Jessica up on some sort of pedestal. She'd been the one who'd dicked around with her stupid music. She'd been the one that had fallen pregnant and miscarried. She'd been the one to make things fall completely apart.

Truthfully, they'd been spiraling downhill before the miscarriage, but she still blamed herself.

"I nearly died, trying to have a go at slitting my wrists in the bathroom, and he did nearly nothing. His sister found me."

Yeah, he'd gotten her help, but only out of obligation, and they'd just...given up. It really hadn't been worth it.

She'd moved out. One month after the miscarriage. Two weeks after the incident in the bathroom. She'd found an apartment and gotten a "real" job. Where she'd met Steven. Steven Wakefield. God, he was hot. Single, too, she suspected. It was a shame she still wasn't cleared to have sex because she'd sure wanted to earlier-when she'd been with him in the office. She'd had a crush on him at SVU, too, but he'd never noticed her. Today, he finally had-though it was bittersweet. They'd both been broken. Though, he was quite attractive.

She needed to eat, so she decided to go to the bar in the hotel around the corner. Nobody she knew ever went there, not that she kept in touch with many of her friends anymore, but at least she wouldn't be embarrassed by sitting alone.

Still dressed for the office, she sat in the booth she always sat in, reading the day's paper and sipping her coffee. She hated to eat alone.

"Would you just go away? You're driving me insane, Aaron!"  
>"I just don't see why you're spending the night in a hotel, honey bunch!"<br>"I am not your honey bunch! It was a damned drunken kiss, Aaron!"  
>"Don't be silly!"<br>"I'm not being silly! I don't even know how we got into this fuck up of a relationship, okay? It was one kiss that you forced on me and suddenly I'm divorced and gay! I still like women, okay? They're hot! You know why I stay at hotels? Because I need a damned break. You ruined my life!"  
>"Excuse me?"<br>"Cara and I could have worked it out! We could have! You and Jessica ruined that!"

She choked on her coffee as she recognized half of the fighting pair as Steven Wakefield.

"You don't want to be with me? Fine. Get out."  
>"Get out of where? The hotel? I can stay wherever the hell I want!"<br>"Find a new apartment! We're through!"

She regained her ability to breathe and most of her composure, just in time for him to storm into the bar. She smiled, trying to catch his attention. He approached the table, shooting her a slight smile.

"Hey."  
>"Hey. You can sit with me, if you want."<br>"Thanks. I think I'll take you up on the offer. You look nice."  
>"Thanks. You like girls, I hear?"<p>

He paled slightly.

"You heard that?"  
>"Yes. It's okay. I'm a fuck up too. But I am a woman. And I have a box room available."<br>"What?"  
>"You heard me. I have a room available. Take the hint."<p>

He smiled at her, toying with the cup in front of him.

"You want me to move in with you?"  
>"If you want. I won't assume I'm your girlfriend."<br>"I might not mind that."

She smirked, feeling sexy for the first time in awhile.

"Maybe we'll fall in love. People fall in love all the time. At least that's what happens in romance novels. I don't believe in romance novels anymore, though."  
>"I've never read one."<br>"I bet Aaron has."  
>"Yes. He loves them. I broke someone else's heart, didn't I?"<br>"It's not your fault. We all make mistakes, Steven."  
>"But-"<br>"Shush. Let's just have dinner, and then you can spend the night in the hotel and we can discuss you moving in tomorrow during work, okay?"  
>"Okay."<p>

***

"Ah, another fine day to clean! The sun is shining, the birds are out, and none of my children are cheating on their significant others! Best of all, today is the day I get to treat my beautiful cream rug! This is wonderful-"

The doorbell rang and Alice sighed, wishing that her husband, Ned, was home to answer it. People always interrupted her cleaning time, and it nearly drove her insane. She opened the front door, more than a bit annoyed to see Aaron Dallas standing there, boxes surrounding him. Boxes full of things! That were going to dirty her house! The very nerve! How dare he?

"Aaron, dear, I'm cleaning. Get these boxes out of here."  
>"They're Steven's. He's moving out."<br>"They are boxes. Boxes track dust! I've already vacuumed!"  
>"We broke up, Alice. He hates me!"<br>"Oh, you hush up! You expect sympathy from me when you bring boxes into my clean home?"

Honestly! The nerve of him! Why did she care that they'd broken up? She'd known it would never last-Aaron had never respected her love of cleaning, for starters. And now she had to deal with her son's belongings because some stupid boy had assumed they were in love? Because her youngest child had insisted on destroying Steven's marriage? Because of a complete lack of communication between all the parties? Alice gave him a disapproving look, realizing that he was tracking mud all over her carpet.

Her cream carpet! Hadn't it been through enough? She'd accidentally spilled a glass of rose on it the morning before-having caught Elizabeth and Bruce in the shower together, now it had to deal with dirt? Dirt stained!

"Alice-"  
>"Get out! Get out!"<br>"What?"  
>"You are tracking mud on my carpet!"<p>

She'd rather deal with the boxes and Steven by herself.

"Geeze, Alice. It's just a little mud!"  
>"Out! O-U-T!"<p>

She watched him like a hawk as he exited her home, leaving a trail of muddy footprints to her front door. She gave the boxes the stink eye, annoyed that she had to clean the boxes and her rug-at once! She had a feeling Jessica was somewhat responsible for this injustice. Her children always found a way to drive her insane. Insane!

She decided that the stain remover needed time to soak, and she called Steven at the office, wanting the boxes dealt with.

"Hello Wakefield-West Law Offices, Department of Family Law, Billie Winkler speaking. How may I help you?"  
>"Steven?"<br>"No, Miss, Steven is dealing with a personal issue right now. I can take a message, though."  
>"You tell him that this is his mother and that his personal items are in my house on my cream rug in boxes and that they must be dealt with as soon as possible because my dusting day was two days ago and I've already done the vacuuming as well-"<br>"Hold on, he's right here. He wants to speak to you."

Her son got on the line.

"Steven, dear, that Billie person sounds just darling!"  
>"Mom, what happened?"<br>"Aaron says you've broken up. Good. I was sick of Jessica crowing about using you as a fashion accessory. Unfortunately, he appears to have used my beautiful home as a dumping ground for all your things-"  
>"I told him I was moving in with Billie. As friends, Mom, don't get any ideas"<br>"A girl? Oh, Steven, how wonderful. Is she a lawyer too?"  
>"Mom, you just spoke to her!"<br>"Oh, yes, silly me! Do you think you could come over to get the boxes? They're-oh for heaven's sake! Aaron, don't you dare weed my flower beds! That's what the gardener is for!"  
>"Get rid of him."<br>"How?"  
>"Act crazy, I don't know, Mom, just get rid of him!"<br>"And you'll come over to get the boxes?"  
>"Yes, Mom."<br>"Good boy." 


	3. Memories

Chapter 3

"Dad? What are you doing here?"  
>"Steven? What are you doing here?"<br>"Picking up Billie."  
>"Getting your mother."<br>"At Kelly's?"  
>"At Kelly's?"<br>"Yes."  
>"Yes."<p>

Ned Wakefield was still somewhat stunned at the turn of events that had happened in the week since Jessica and Todd had gotten married. Apparently, Elizabeth was dating Bruce Patman-why, he didn't quite fully understand; Steven had broken up with Aaron-which sort of relieved Ned, as he'd been somewhat confused as to why on earth his formerly heterosexual son had started to date men; Jessica was on honeymoon with Todd Wilkins-he still couldn't believe that his and Alice's passive way of avoiding dealing with that particular mess had messed up so badly; and, well, Alice was off the cleaning wagon again. Apparently she thought there was something _wrong_ with their lives! But they were the Wakefields! Sweet Valley's perfect family!

The idea was positively unheard of!

Of course, now Steven was apparently living with his recent addition to the law firm, and he was so very confused as to why his son picked the most complicated women to fall in love with-his ex-girlfriend Lila Fowler was still available, and she'd get with anyone, after all-he was still relieved that one aspect of their lives was back in place. Perhaps now Alice would stop with her ridiculous statements about becoming a Democrat and "going back to her flower power youth"-the same youth in which she'd become engaged to Hank Patman, a man Ned was fairly certain had never been a hippie-at all.

He didn't quite know what he'd do about Elizabeth and Bruce. He'd tried to have a fatherly chat with his daughter, but all she'd done was cry and cry about how good he was and how long it had lasted and he'd been so flummoxed due to the tears he'd been unsure how to continue the conversation and he'd given up and left. He was a lawyer, after all. The women in his firm dealt with tears, not him.

And, Jessica and Todd. Jessica and Todd. That had somehow turned into a larger disaster than he'd ever dreamed of. How on earth his youngest child had gotten married for the third time, he'd never know. He'd heard people taking bets at the reception about how long it would last!

Alice had taken to cleaning again, as she usually did in times of stress, and apparently the previous day's "rug incident" had been the last straw for his wife's delicate mental state. He didn't quite know the full details, but he'd come home from work to find her sobbing over that ridiculous cream rug that she adored. Apparently it had been "ruined". He was no therapist, but he suspected Alice was projecting the slightest bit.

Which was why he'd sent her to Kellys-he figured drinking would mellow her out. Barring that, he had an agreement with Rick Andover, the bar's owner, that his wife could always clean. She felt useful. He didn't get a headache from the cleaning products. And Rick had gotten his record sealed and erased. Life was good.

"Oh, God."  
>"What?"<br>"Mom is talking to Billie."  
>"What?"<br>"Mom is talking to Billie!"  
>"What are you-oh my. What are we going to do?"<p>

He shuddered to think of what his wife was saying to his newest lawyer.

"I don't know! I'm not good at dealing with problems related to liquor! I got divorced 'cause I got drunk and kissed a guy, remember?"

That had been embarrassing to hear the first time, and still didn't really impress Ned. However, he certainly didn't want to go into Kellys and deal with Alice!

"Steven..."  
>"What?"<br>"Do you like Billie?"  
>"Yeah! She's hot. And she's nice to me."<p>

He saw his opening.

"Then you should defend her from your mother. Please."

***

Billie stared at the beer in front of her, trying to focus on the irritating lady that sat next to her as she blathered on and on about cleaning supplies and cream rugs and how she didn't like the "liberal world" and how really wasn't it nice that the owner of Kelly's let her clean, and she just wanted to smack her or something.

"-and then I said, Aaron, stop picking all of my flowers! And Aaron just stared at me! I swear, he's stupider than Princess Alberta-she's my new puppy! Oh, my, hello Steven! What are you doing here?"

Steven Wakefield, hot wonderful attractive Steven Wakefield that lived in her apartment with her, sat on the stool beside her, and she slid her beer over to him.

"Hey, Billie. Do you want to go home?"  
>"Not really, I was just having a pleasant-"<p>

The drunk blonde lady interrupted.

"Stevie thanks for getting your boxes! Stevie did you know that your girl friend's a very nice listener?"  
>"Mom..."<br>"Don't Mom me! Your father wanted me to come here!"  
>"'Cause you're driving him mad!"<br>"I am not! I'm just upset because of my rug!"  
>"I'll buy you another damn cream carpet, just shut up."<br>"Dear, promise me you like girls again?"

She watched him with interest as he downed her entire beer, signaling Rick for another one.

"I swear, Mom, I like girls."  
>"Good!"<p>

Rick appeared, somehow recognizing her male companion.

"Hey! It's Heaven and Heavenly's brother! And Heaven and Heavenly's mom!"  
>"Hey, Rick."<br>"Your mother just cleaned the bar, didn't she?"

Alice beamed.

"Yes! I love to clean! I was just telling Billie how to get bloodstains off of hardwood! And clothes! And fabric interiors! It sounds like she missed a fun cleaning opportunity!"

She sighed, wondering why she'd bothered to tell Alice about her miscarriage. Oh, that's right. Because she was trying to get absolutely pissed. Completely shattered. And the woman beside her kept bothering her so she told her the story so she'd have some peace and quiet. It hadn't worked. Steven shifted beside her, looking confused.

She didn't want him to know. She wanted to just forget about the whole thing.

"It's nothing, okay? I had a missed abortion, that's all."  
>"Why did you tell my mother?"<br>"I didn't know she was your mother! She was crying over the damned stupid rug and she asked me why I was upset and I told her."  
>"And?"<br>"Then she told me a very sad story about her rug. And how it will never be the same again. And I got sort of drunk."  
>"I have to get buzzed to deal with Mom sometimes, too. Don't worry about it."<p>

He apparently had accepted the news with little fanfare, and she wanted to kiss him. Not just because he hadn't commented or that he was very sexy or that she was quite drunk-rather some combination of the three. Instead she settled for awkwardly taking a sip from his beer.

God damn-she was twenty nine. She'd been married. Honestly, why was she acting like a stupid starry-eyed teenager.

"Lookit! Steven, it's Cara!"  
>"Mom..."<p>

She turned in the direction drunk blonde lady was pointing at and nearly fell off her stool: the woman may very well have been Cara (she didn't really remember what she looked like) but the man? That was Mike. Her Mike. Well, her ex, Mike, but still.

"Hello, Alice. Hi, Steven. Aaron told me that apparently you still like women and abandoned him to move in with some girl you met at work. That must be nice. This is Mike."

Steven spoke.

"I know who Mike is. He used to be married to Jessica! You're supposed best friend!"  
>"She's not my friend anymore. You broke my heart."<br>"I was drunk! That's all! It didn't mean anything!"  
>"I know that now, don't I? Well, it doesn't matter, anyways."<br>"That's it?"  
>"Are you happy? You deserve to be happy, Steven."<p>

She shot Mike a glare-at least Steven's ex-wife was talking to him, though she had a suspicion it was to avoid speaking to his mother.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your new girlfriend?"  
>"You know Cara."<br>"Yes. But it's still polite. Or asking me how I am? Calling at all to see how I'm doing?"  
>"We broke up!"<br>"Don't give me that excuse! You knew that it was a jerk move to serve me a month after I lost the baby! Two weeks after I hurt myself! You can't even say hi to me when we're at the same bar! What the fuck did I do, Mike?"  
>"You didn't-"<br>"Oh, bullshit! You were just waiting to leave me and then when I got pregnant your plans got ruined and then when I had the miscarriage you saw your window and took it! Admit it, Mike!"  
>"We always had problems-"<br>"I know we had problems, Mike! But most people don't serve their grieving wife with papers! They wait an acceptable amount of time!"  
>"You told me to leave!"<br>"I didn't mean it! When your depressed wife says that you can leave if you want to you shouldn't listen to her! You wouldn't have left Jessica!"  
>"I-"<br>"No, you wouldn't have. I know you wouldn't have."

***

Steven Wakefield awoke to find himself in bed with his formerly drunk female roommate and a headache. He considered himself fortunate that they were both dressed. And that they hadn't been arrested. And that he was fairly certain Aaron had seen the drunken, sloppy kiss they'd shared outside of Kellys as they headed home. He was so confused.

"Billie?"

He shoved her shoulder, and she let out a groan.

"Steven? What happened last night?"

He sighed, handing her a glass of water and some aspirin that he'd had the foresight to have laid on the bedside table the night before. She gulped it down, clearly expecting an answer.

"You were at the bar. Mom was at the bar. You told Mom about your miscarriage. She told you about her rug. Dad and I showed up and I went inside to rescue you. We started to drink. Mom flirted a bit with Rick Andover. Mike and Cara showed up."  
>"Oh, God..."<br>"You and Mike got into a fight."  
>"Oh God..."<br>"Mike didn't come off looking very good, what when you got him to admit that he was still in love with Jessica when you got married. Then Elizabeth and Bruce Patman showed up."  
>"Uh-huh?"<br>"That was when we left."  
>"Did anything else happen?"<p>

Did he tell her? He decided it was worth a shot.

"Yeah. We kissed."

She blinked at him, moving the slightest bit closer.

"We kissed? What kind of kiss?"  
>"Oh, you know, a regular kiss."<br>"Was there tongue?"  
>"A bit."<br>"Did we like it?"  
>"I think so. I did."<br>"Do you want to do it again?"

He thought about it, and, yeah, of course he did. Who was he to turn this beautiful woman down?

"Yeah."

She sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She leaned in to him, pressing her lips to his, and they kissed. It wasn't a sloppy kiss, like the night before, but she was still quite the passionate kisser. He could taste the stale beer on her breath, but he didn't care, especially as she ran her fingers through his hair. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. All too soon, she pulled slowly away.

"I'm glad we kissed, aren't you?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"Is that all you can say? 'Yeah'?"  
>"Yeah."<p>

She giggled, still sitting on his lap, and he caressed her cheek.

"What's so funny?"  
>"Nothing, Steven. I just think you're cute."<br>"I think you're cute, too."  
>"Thanks."<br>"You're welcome. What's that on your arm?"

He hadn't forgotten the comment she'd made about trying to kill herself after her miscarriage, after all. And the scars on her arm certainly looked fresh enough. She followed his gaze and let out a sigh.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just...after the miscarriage I was very confused. I hadn't really wanted the baby-don't get me wrong, I always wanted kids, but it wasn't the right time. Things were going poorly and I fell pregnant...and then I had the miscarriage. I was fairly far along-three or so months-and I thought it was my fault. I thought that I'd...I dunno, caused it or something. I didn't know how to talk to Mike about it 'cause we were always getting into rows and he was, not happy, exactly, but he wasn't depressed over me losing the baby like I was. So one day I was home alone-I wasn't really thinking about ending it-but I'd decided to give it a try. Obviously it didn't work."

She burst into tears, and he held her, wishing he hadn't asked the question. God, he was still messing up.

"I'm sorry-"  
>"No. Don't be. Please don't be sorry. No one's ever cared enough to ask me."<br>"Mike-"  
>"He told me that he'd get me help. But I didn't want it. I wanted to talk-not get sent away."<br>"You can always talk to me. We're friends, okay?"

She looked at him.

"I don't want to be your friend, Steven. Why do you think I kissed you? Twice? Why do you think I'm sitting on your lap? Dammit, I like you!"  
>"You do?"<p>

She did?

"Yes! Can't we just try? To just date?"  
>"Sure."<br>"We can?"  
>"Of course."<br>"Really?"  
>"Yeah. Wanna be my girlfriend, Billie Winkler?"<br>"Sure, Steven Wakefield. I'd love that."

She kissed him again, a light peck on the lips this time. He grinned.

Suddenly, the tranquility was interrupted by a knock on the door. He groaned.

He flung it opened, unsurprised to see his entire family standing there.

"What-"  
>"Mom says I ruined her life!"<br>"What?"  
>"She won't leave me alone, Steven! She's saying that I should have left-"<br>"Jessica caused my rug to be ruined!"  
>"Mom doesn't like me dating Bruce!"<br>"Alice, would you shut up about the rug?"  
>"Shut up, Ned!"<br>"She said that I shouldn't have married Todd!"  
>"Shut up, Jessica!"<p>

Billie entered the room, looking shyly at every one, and he wrapped a protective arm around her. She was his girlfriend. He was so happy. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to notice, and the fighting only grew.

"You can't blame me for Steven and Cara!"  
>"You were the one who decided he was gay!"<br>"Why did you have to get sick, Elizabeth?"  
>"Mom-"<br>"Shut up, Steven!"  
>"Mom-"<br>"Shut up, Elizabeth! Jessica, this is all your fault! How could you? You destroyed about fifty marriages!"  
>"What?"<br>"You heard me!"  
>"Alice, dear-"<br>"What, Ned?"  
>"Shut up, all of you! Alice, you need to stop with the obsession with your rug; Jessica, it is a bit disgusting that you're married to your identical twin's ex-fiance; Elizabeth, maybe you shouldn't be dating the son of your mother's ex-fiance; and you know what, maybe Mike should have stayed married to Jessica! Maybe this all would have been avoided had she not lied about being married, huh? Maybe everyone would have been happy and we all wouldn't be in such SHIT? Unless all of you can discuss this maturely then get out of my apartment!"<p>

Billie had stunned them all into silence.

Unfortunately, Alice ruined said silence.

"My rug-"  
>"That's it! Do you want a trank? 'Cause I'll give you one!"<p> 


	4. Out of Control

Chapter 4

"Daddy, I've decided how my relationship with Todd will be just perfect! A new baby!"

Ned Wakefield couldn't help it. He spit out his coffee, all over the sports section of the Sweet Valley Times. Jessica had officially lost her mind. That had to be the reason of all of this. She couldn't actually be serious about wanting a baby with Todd Wilkins, could she? After the incident at Steven's new apartment? Where Alice had had to take one of Billie Winkler, his firm's newest lawyer and Steven's new girlfriend's sleeping pills? And she'd passed out on the table?

"You what, darling?"

He'd had to have heard wrong.

"A baby, Daddy! Isn't that great?"  
>"Dear, you do realize that you've driven your mother to madness?"<br>"Nu-uh! That was Liz and Bruce. And Steven. I don't understand why he couldn't stay gay, Daddy. He would have been an adorable fashion accessory! Why'd he have to meet that Billie girl?"  
>"Jessica! Your brother is a human being, not a barrette! Now stop that. Steven is the only person not attempting to send your mother to the funny farm at the moment."<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"You know exactly what I mean, young lady! Your mother's grip with reality has been ruined since you and Todd decided you were in love! And there you went, deciding to ruin your brother's marriage as well as your twin's engagement!"<br>"Excuse me?"  
>"You should have left well enough alone, Jessica."<p>

Ned made an attempt to dry out the paper, more than slightly annoyed at his youngest child. Honestly, sometimes she was positively impossible! Coming into his law firm, expecting a job, telling him she wanted to have children! Jessica-having children! Todd-having children! Jessica and Todd-having children! Together!

"What do you mean?"  
>"I mean, that you should have left well enough alone. The only reason you told Cara about Steven kissing Aaron is because you wanted to be the "shoulder patting twin" for once! You didn't even let him explain what happened! Not to mention you were Todd's bit on the side at the time!"<br>"Todd and I are in love! Why doesn't anyone believe that?"  
>"Because, you are married to your identical twin's ex-fiance! You should have left it as the one night stand it deserved to be!"<p>

Elizabeth had told him that particular detail one night-oddly enough, he hadn't wanted to know!

"You take that back, Daddy! Take it back! I bet you think it's disgusting like that Billie chick, don't you?"  
>"She did have a point!"<br>"Why? Just 'cause he was engaged to Lizzie doesn't mean he was in love with her!"  
>"Jessica! Behave yourself!"<br>"Daddy-"  
>"Don't "daddy" me!"<p>

Ned thought back to the past, when the whispers had started. It was a dark time, and one that he hated to think about. He'd even tried to ignore them-but Caroline Pearce telling some to Alice at their cancer survivors meeting had confirmed that they were true. The whole thing was a scandal. A scandal!

"Steven said that he wanted to kill me, Daddy, and he used the "f" word! You didn't even punish him!"

_"How could you fuckin' do that to me?"_

_"Please, Steven, I..."_

_"Don't please Steven me. You're just a bitch. You know what you've done to Cara?"_

_"Me? How about you?"  
><em>_  
>"You promised you wouldn't say anything! I told you I was going to deal with it!"<em>

_"Yeah, right. How long have you been waiting to deal with it?"_

_"None of your goddamn business."_

Ned Wakefield sighed. He really didn't know what to do. Apparently logic didn't associate itself with Jessica Wakefield-McAllery-Wakefield-_he couldn't remember Regan's last name_-Wakefield-Wilkins! Somehow, that didn't surprise him.

He groaned.

This truly, well, as the children said it, sucked.

***

Billie sat across the table from Steven at Guidos, enjoying a glass of wine and a pepperoni pizza with her new boyfriend-the wine was something he'd obviously randomly picked from the list-but she didn't mind. She was just glad that dating was easier than she'd remembered it to be. She smiled wryly. Perhaps easier was the wrong word to use, considering their pasts, but she was at least having a good time with him.

And he was even hotter out of his suit and in jeans and a t-shirt.

Unfortunately, she had the feeling that their dinner was going to be ruined by one of his sisters. She couldn't really tell them apart, but this one was harassing their waitress.

"Jessica, shut up! No, you cannot borrow one of my children! Absolutely not! Not after the time you used poor Bianca as a Theta pledge task!"

He paled.

"Come on, Janet. Daddy said I had to learn how to be responsible!"  
>"Well, that's a pleasant change. Why don't you get a real job, like your brother?"<br>"No, I want a baby! With Todd! And Daddy said no!"  
>"What? Jessica that's an awful idea!"<br>"Oh, you don't know anything. Denny knocked you up when you were a junior in high school!"  
>"At least I matured! You want a baby just so you can prove you're in love!"<br>"I wanna be responsible!"  
>"Jessica, I'd sooner trust your mother to watch the children-I'd sooner put them on a plane to New York so Elizabeth could watch them!"<p>

Steven showed her the text he'd sent his father, and she giggled into her slice of pizza. They shared a brief kiss.

"Is he on his way?"  
>"Yes. I told him she was upsetting Janet-my mother spent a lot of time helping her study for the GED when she dropped out-and she's more mature than Jessica."<br>"What did he say?"  
>"He's not surprised."<p>

They watched his father come running in-for someone in his early fifties he could sure run-and Jessica looked angry. Janet at least looked apologetic.

"Hello, Mr. Wakefield. How-"  
>"Jessica Wilkins! What the hell is wrong with you?"<br>"Daddy what-Steven Wakefield you are a bastard!"  
>"We do not call our brother that!"<br>"Yes we do, Daddy! Yes we do!"  
>"No, we don't!"<br>"Yes we do!"  
>"NO WE DO NOT! JESSICA WILKINS YOU ARE BEING VERY IMMATURE! LEAVE YOUR BROTHER AND HIS GIRLFRIEND ALONE THIS INSTANT AND NO YOU MAY NOT ASK JANET IF YOU CAN BORROW HER AND DENNY'S CHILDREN!"<br>"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?"  
>"YOUR BROTHER TOLD ME!"<br>"STEVEN'S A BIG FAT JERK!"

***

"Sorry our date was ruined by my sister and father."  
>"It wasn't ruined. I had a nice time. Especially when he picked her up off the floor where she was kicking and punching the rug!"<br>"And when he grounded her!"  
>"And when the waitress's husband came with their kids to pick her up and the children started crying the minute they saw your sister!"<br>"And when she said she wanted to name them pretty names like them!"  
>"I did have a nice time. Thank you for taking me out."<br>"You're welcome. Sorry it wasn't a fancy restaurant-"  
>"Shush."<p>

Billie leaned in to Steven and kissed him hungrily, playing with his hair. He kissed her back, and she straddled him. He could feel "Steven Jr" wanting to come out and play for the first time since the whole mess with Cara and Aaron, and she smiled at him, noticing it too. She covered his hard on, the warmth of her hand making him even more turned on. She kissed him again, pulling away slowly.

"You're beautiful."  
>"Thank you, Steven. But, I can't. I haven't been cleared yet by a doctor."<br>"Oh. From your-"

He noticed her raise her hand to cut him off, and he wisely went silent.

"Yes. But I'm glad I turned you on. It looks like I have something to look forward to."

She leaned forward, giving him a generous view of her full, gorgeous, breasts. It looked like he had something to look forward to, too. He reached out and cupped them, remembering exactly how to turn a woman on. She let out a pleasured moan, kissing him again.

"If you want, we'll go slow. After it's okay, I mean."  
>"We don't have to..."<br>"I know. Whatever makes you comfortable."

She climbed off his lap and snuggled against him. He turned on the television, keeping the volume low. He was so in love with her. It was hard to believe they'd only been dating roughly a month.

"I want to sleep with you. I do. But I have an appointment next week."  
>"Do you want me to go with you?"<p>

She stiffened in his arms, then relaxed, and he stroked her arms.

"Could you?"  
>"Yeah. You're my girlfriend. I'm not gonna make you go alone."<br>"Thanks. It means a lot to me."

He kissed her on the top of her head, pulling her closer to him. He had to tell her how he felt. He just had to.

"I love you, Billie."  
>"Oh, Steven. I love you too. Even though it's hard for me to show it sometimes."<p>

They kissed, and he could taste her cherry chapstick. The irony of the Katy Perry song went through his head, and he was so glad he didn't have a boyfriend anymore. He wished that had never happened.

But he'd met Billie. His Billie. He loved her so much.

Why did he have a feeling that they'd soon be the only normal couple?


	5. Family Secrets

Chapter 5

"Mrs. Wakefield? Are you here to see Steven?"  
>"Oh, don't be ridiculous, dear. I'm here to clean for Janet and Denny! Why, is Steven making a mess?"<br>"No, I was just wondering-"  
>"Oh, dear, it's just that the Howell-Jacobsons make such messes, what with the five kids and all! It's just marvelous! Marvelous!"<br>"Five children?"  
>"Oh, yes, you see, Bianca was a mistake but the others just kept coming! Isn't that sweet?"<br>"Oh...um..."

Billie really tried to find something positive to say about the entire situation-five children? Five children? Five children?-but she really couldn't. Steven's mother was a bit weird, and slightly obsessed with cleaning. Not cleanliness, that she understood, but the actual practical act of cleaning. The few times they'd met it had been the same thing. She wondered if there was something wrong with her, but she didn't ask. And to add in the five children thing! She wanted children, she truly did, but five? No way. Not at any age, let alone the twenty eight Steven had said Janet was. She shuddered.

"Well, dear, Janet's apartment certainly won't clean itself! I'll be off!"

She breathed a sigh of relief. His mother was quite odd.

"Bye, Mrs. Wakefield."  
>"Bye, dearie!"<p>

She hated the feeling she got whenever she was around Steven's family-she love him, she really did, but they were just so...weird. And she was so confused.

He'd tried to explain it to her, he really had. He'd told her how he'd married his girlfriend Cara his freshman year because she'd been afraid she'd had to move to London, England, when she was a junior in high school; he'd explained that Todd had once been engaged to Elizabeth, and that they'd dated from sixth grade to roughly ten months ago; and he'd explained that Jessica was the family's proverbial black sheep, never picking a career, becoming a serial divorcee; and he'd explained that his mother had had a breakdown his freshman year (he couldn't quite explain why) and had used cleaning as a tool to deal with stress ever since.

She felt bad for him, she really did.

"You know your mother's here, right?"  
>"Oh, she's always at Janet's. Apparently Janet's children are her honorary grandchildren or something stupid like that. She's bitter none of us had kids."<br>"Oh..."  
>"And the place is a mess 'cause there's seven of them there so she likes to clean it."<br>"Yeah. She told me."  
>"You spoke to her?"<br>"Yeah. I assumed she was here to visit you."  
>"No."<br>"I know that now!"  
>"I know. Come on, let's go home before the kids see me. They'll want us to play with-"<p>

He cut off abruptly when four young children ran out in the hallway, followed by an annoyed looking preteen.

"-them."  
>"Are those?"<br>"Yes."

The waitress from the week before stood out in the hallway, making an attempt to corral the children.

"Bianca! Belle! Ariel! Jasmine! Dennis Jr.! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The oldest one spoke, rolling her eyes.

"Mrs. Alice is cleaning, Mom. She told us to go play in traffic or somethin'!"  
>"She wasn't serious! Get back here!"<br>"Hell no! Why should I?"  
>"Bianca, you listen to me! You leave this complex, you're grounded!"<br>"Grounded! Why, so I don't go off and sleep with my ex-boyfriend and get pregnant and haveta marry him like you?"  
>"You take that back!"<br>"No! It's true!"  
>"When your father gets back-"<br>"When Dad gets back? When Dad gets back? When Dad gets back you'll be pushing the next one out!"  
>"Shut up!"<p>

She wanted to disappear. He looked like he was going to be ill.

"No, Mom, you shut up! I wanna stay with Lila and Ken! I wanna stay with Lila and Ken!"  
>"Oh your cousin? You want to stay with your cousin?"<br>"Yeah I do!"  
>"After how she treated me? Caroline gets invited to her parties!"<br>"Exactly. You're less of a person than Caroline Pearce!"  
>"Stop it, Bianca! Stop it! Dammit, I tried! I tried!"<br>"It wouldn't be so bad if you didn't keep getting pregnant-"  
>"Your father never remembers to pull out! That ain't my fault!"<p>

Billie rarely fought with her parents when she was growing up-they'd been rather traditional, and she'd been the same-head cheerleader at her prep school, musical, driven-they certainly wouldn't have fought in the hallway (or, she supposed, the street, since they lived in a house) where others could hear! Especially about such...inappropriate subjects! She wasn't a prude, really, Steven had accompanied her to the gynecologist that afternoon, but certain things were private!

Like the fact that she was cleared to have sex-only they and the doctor knew that.

And the fact that she worried about the amount of Disney films that his friend Janet had seen.

And about the fact that she really was sort of glad she'd had the miscarriage, because she could picture something eerily similar to this happening to her had her pregnancy continued. Not on that scale, obviously, but still the thought scared her. And the pull out method? Who used the pull out method after their first accidental pregnancy?

She felt a small hand tugging on her jeans, and she smiled at the toddler.

"Hi, sweetie, who are you?"  
>"I'm Ariel. You're Steven's girlfriend. Mrs. Alice told us."<br>"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you."  
>"When is Jessie coming to play with us again, Steven? We liked her."<p>

He got on the same level (well, roughly) as the child, only wincing slightly when she got her jam covered hands on his suit.

"I dunno. Why don't you ask my mom?"  
>"Mrs. Alice is cleaning!"<br>"When she's done."  
>"She said we had to get cleaned after!"<br>"Well, that's probably for the best..."

Janet approached.

"Hey, Steven. I didn't know you lived here."  
>"I didn't know you lived here. This is Billie, my girlfriend."<p>

He slipped an arm around her waist, kissing her.

"It's nice to meet you. Belle don't you DARE do that! You know how I feel about you talking to your sister when she's being punished! I'm sorry, Billie, was it?"  
>"Yes..."<br>"I'm sorry my children are so poorly behaved. I don't understand why!"

Billie had a feeling it had to do with the fact that Janet and Denny were in the most dysfunctional marriage she'd ever heard of. But she wisely kept her mouth shut. The oldest, Bianca, spoke.

"Oh, Mom just shaddup! You know damn well why! I hate you! You ruined my life!"

Mrs. Wakefield appeared, duster in hand, and she looked confused.

"Janet, dear, what did I say about being nice to the children?"  
>"Sorry Mrs. Wakefield. I'm sorry."<p> 


	6. The New Jessica

Chapter 6

"We have got to talk about your mother! She has absolutely lost it! Lost it!"  
>"What happened?"<br>"I'll tell you in your office."  
>"Billie's in there-"<br>"I don't care. She's your girlfriend, right? She deserves to know what she's up against. You and I are the only normal Wakefields."  
>"You can say that again."<br>"She's gotten Jessica a position opposite Amy Sutton on the Sweet Valley News at Noon!"  
>"As an anchor? She didn't."<br>"I'm afraid she did. Hello, Billie. It's so nice to see you again."

Steven turned on the television, and the unfortunately familiar faces of Amy Sutton and Jessica Wilkins filled the screen. It had to just be a bad dream. He'd wake up in bed tangled up with both Billie and the bed sheets, he just knew it!

"Hey, Sweet Valley, this is your Sweet Valley News at Noon on Channel Nine! I'm your head anchor, Amy Sutton-"  
>"And I'm your new co-anchor, Jessica Wilkins!"<br>"You may know Jessica as the person behind the popular cosmetic line MYFACEISGREEN, which she parted ways with, due to creative differences, in the last month. Her father is local attorney Ned Wakefield and her brother is attorney Steven Wakefield, and her identical twin was a former reporter for the Sweet Valley Times-"  
>"-today on your Sweet Valley News at Noon on Channel Nine! Traffic is backed up on the freeways in Greater Sweet Valley County-"<br>"-a look at Sweet Valley's own Ken Matthews' successful return to NFL football-"

Fortunately, his father muted the television, sighing heavily. This wasn't a dream-it was a nightmare! An absolute nightmare! His sister-a television news anchor!

"What do you think, Billie?"  
>"Well, she certainly is enthusiastic!"<br>"This is all Mom's fault! She knows that Jessica can't act! Not after the incident!"

Jessica had taken to hanging around with a rather rough crowd in Hollywood-his poor ex-wife had been horrified to see certain...parts of her visible in one tabloid too many. And then there had been the sex tape. His father had had a field day trying to get its release blocked.

"I told your mother that I thought it was ridiculous! She doesn't care!"  
>"Mom has lost it."<br>"I know. Ever since that fateful day..."

His father trailed off, and Billie interjected.

"Fateful day?"

He sighed, taking her hands in his. It was hard to believe that, really, their lives had changed so much because of one, simple, day. It had been a pleasant day, thinking back. Except for Hurricane Jessica.

"Yeah. Jessica caught Aaron kissing me, Elizabeth found out about her affair with Todd and moved to New York, and Cara kicked me out of the house. All in one day."  
>"Do you think that perhaps everyone was a little hasty?"<br>"What?"  
>"Well, it all fell apart at once, right? And you must have moved in with Aaron?"<br>"Yeah. It was his idea. He told me we were in love!"  
>"Oh, Steven. I thought you were supposed to be the smart Wakefield?"<p>

She was teasing him, though, and he knew it. It was a pity his father was in their office with them, because he really wanted to kiss her. As if reading his mind, his father stood, shutting off the television.

"I have to meet Bruce and Elizabeth for lunch."  
>"Have fun, Dad!"<br>"Yeah. Right."

He left, closing the door behind him.

"I am the smart Wakefield!"  
>"Oh, honey, yeah, you are. But Aaron was obviously using you. He was taking advantage."<br>"It wasn't just Aaron. I hadn't been happy in my marriage for a while. Cara and I, we were married when I was 18 and she was 16-we didn't know what we wanted. Things were kind of just falling apart. Caroline Pearce was spreading rumors that I was cheating-I really wasn't-and, well, Jessica lead her to believe that Aaron and I had had some star-crossed love affair. And that was it. Ten years gone to shit."  
>"I'm sorry."<br>"It's okay. Now I have you. And I love you, you know that, right?"  
>"I know. I love you too."<p>

They kissed, and he tugged her hair out of its updo-thingy. He hated how she made it look all severe for the office-he much preferred it soft, loose, and sexy-like it was after work or on the the weekends. He couldn't believe he'd never noticed her before-they'd lived above her, he and Cara, for at least five years. He and Mike were even casual friends-though certainly not after the incident at the bar, but he'd never met her before. Oh, sure, maybe they'd seen each other in class, or around the complex, but he'd barely given her a passing glance. That had obviously been a mistake.

"You're the best."  
>"I'm not the best, Steven."<br>"Yes, you are. I think you are."  
>"Well, thanks."<br>"You're welcome."

She kissed him again, her fingers running through his hair.

"I'm glad we're together. I really am."

***

Dammit. Her stupid period was back, and she was most certainly not happy about it. She didn't want a week without having sex with Steven! Not when they'd been doing it so much! And she certainly didn't want him do see her when she was so bloated and crampy! It would totally turn him off! Not to mention his mother's birthday party was later that week. She was going to be even more miserable than she had to! And it wasn't her fault!

"Hey, you're up! I went to the store and bought us muffins. Do you want them? I know you didn't feel well last night."

She sat up, wanting to kiss him. He'd bought her chocolate chip muffins. How did he know she wanted them? How?

"Thanks. How-"  
>"I saw your calendar. It was pretty easy to figure out. Do you want a motrin?"<p>

He sat in bed beside her, rubbing small circles on her back, and she nodded. A motrin would help her feel better.

"Yeah. Thanks. I appreciate it."  
>"You're welcome. Sorry you're in pain."<br>"It's okay."

And it was, because she was actually afraid she wouldn't be able to have any more children because she'd miscarried. The return of her monthly friend made her feel slightly better about those odds. Because, she did want children. With him. She even had entertained thoughts of marrying him-but she didn't dare share them with him.

What if he said no? That he didn't want those things?

She loved him. She couldn't risk it.

So she let him carry her to the couch, where a fresh pot of coffee and her muffins awaited her.

"Thanks, Steven. You didn't have to."  
>"I know. I wanted to. You're my girlfriend."<p>

He looked so innocent, and she kissed him on the lips. She was his girlfriend, that was true, but he was her boyfriend. And that made her very happy. She loved being his girlfriend.

"You're my boyfriend."  
>"I know."<br>"That's all that matters to me."  
>"Thanks."<br>"Do you want a muffin? I can't eat them all."  
>"Sure."<p>

He took the offered muffin, eating it eagerly. She smiled, ruffling his hair. He was a good boyfriend, he really was. She was the luckiest girl in the world.

"I love you."  
>"I know. You don't have to say it all the time. But I love you too. I'll always love you, Billie Wa-Winkler."<p>

She'd heard him almost say it, she had! He'd almost called her Billie Wakefield! She beamed, kissing him again.


	7. Rumors

Chapter 7

"No, Mom, I don't want to hear about it. You know Caroline is nothing but a hateful gossip-you remember that time she told everyone Elizabeth dated Rick Andover? And for heaven's sake, Mom, who the hell cares? No, Mom, I don't care. No, it's not mine. Cara and I have been divorced for about a year now! What do you mean, you're disappointed? Mom, I'll just see you tonight. Bye. Shit."

Steven laid his phone on the table, just in time for Billie to come up behind him and give him a kiss. Of course Mike had cheated on her with Cara. Of course. And now he'd gotten Cara pregnant-the same Cara that had begged off children when they were married. And now his mother, his mother, his damned mother, had found out. Because of their neighbor, Caroline Pearce. Who he wanted to kill.

"What's the matter?"  
>"Nothing."<br>"I already know she's pregnant. I saw Mike and he told me. I can do the math, too. Whatever. I don't care."  
>"Wait, so it's true?"<br>"Yes. Your ex-wife is pregnant with my ex-husband's baby. And he was cheating on me when we were still married. Oh well."  
>"You sure you're okay?"<br>"I'm fine. I have you now, anyways. It doesn't matter to me."  
>"I am sorry, though."<br>"Don't worry about it. You okay?"  
>"Yeah. I'm fine. Mom's all cheesed off, though."<br>"Why?"  
>"Oh, because you know her. She's nuts. And she wants grandkids. Todd and Jessica are making noises about providing her with them!"<br>"What? Your sister that made those children cry?"  
>"That's the one."<br>"That's an awful idea."

He nodded in agreement, turning around so he could kiss her again, softer and more delicately than before. She was his girlfriend. They were happy. For the most part, anyways. She had her demons, and so did he. But they worked well together. She continued to speak, letting him hold her close.

"I reckon I want kids some day. I do. But I'd be happy without them, if that's what you wanted."  
>"You want kids?"<br>"Yeah. I do. A lot. Mike just had issues with the concept."  
>"So did Cara."<br>"What?"  
>"Cara hated the idea of having kids. She kept saying it was too soon, not that that stopped her from not working ever or wasting our money on useless baking. We had been married for ten years. It had never been enough time for her."<br>"It was eight years for us."  
>"I wanted kids. I did."<br>"Me too. You're not just saying that?"  
>"No! I wanted to be a father."<br>"Let's wait until we've been dating for more than five months, okay?"

She kissed him again.

"Okay."  
>"What is the procedure for this type of situation? A gift? A congratulations? A cigarette in honor of the happy couple?"<br>"A smoke sounds great."  
>"I agree."<p>

He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one, handing it to her. He was a gentleman, after all, and a gentleman always lights the lady's cigarettes. Especially when the lady in question was his girlfriend. He lit his own, taking a drag of it.

"You're not bitter?"  
>"Not really. They deserve each other."<br>"You think so?"  
>"Yeah. I do. And I have you, now, anyways. I love you."<br>"I love you too."

He was dreading the dinner though.

"About tonight-"  
>"Yeah?"<br>"What's it going to be like?"  
>"The worst event ever. Trust me."<br>"Really?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"I believe you."  
>"Listen, don't tell my mom you want kids. Just don't. Trust me."<br>"Why not?"  
>"Trust me. Just trust me."<p> 


	8. Who's to Blame

Chapter 8

Ned Wakefield could already tell that his son, Steven, and his girlfriend, Billie, had had the right idea to bring those ridiculous "electronic cigarettes" to the birthday dinner-California's smoking laws had gotten so ridiculously strict and he figured it would be best for them to not annoy his delicate wife by leaving every few minutes to go outside for a cigarette. Which he had a feeling they'd need.

"Alice, please..."  
>"What? Is it too much to hope that Elizabeth hasn't brought him? That Jessica will see sense? That Steven will provide us with grandchildren?"<br>"Well..."

He watched his son and his girlfriend for a few minutes-they seemed to be happy and in love-and he shrugged. He didn't want to get Alice's hopes up. He blamed Caroline Pearce for this, he really did. What was she thinking, telling Alice such rumors?

Steven and Billie approached, happier than he'd seen them in a long while, and he managed a smile. He dreaded tonight.

"Hello, Billie. It's so nice to see you. You look well."  
>"Thanks, Mr. Wakefield. You look well, too."<br>"Call me Ned. This is my wife, Alice."  
>"We've met."<br>"I recall. Alice, you remember Steven's new girlfriend, Billie. She works at the firm with us."

He discreetly elbowed her, and she faked a bright smile.

"Of course! it's so nice to see you again, dear. You look just lovely."  
>"Thank you. Happy birthday."<br>"Oh, thank you!"

His wife wandered off in the direction of the bar and he let her go, motioning to the table they'd secured. The three of them sat down, and he took a sip of his beer. Somehow, he had a feeling the tenuous peace that had been secured would not last. This feeling was secured when he noticed Elizabeth and Bruce enter the restaurant, followed by Cara and her new husband. She hadn't? This was ridiculous-she better not have. Much to his relief, Cara and Mike, was it, sat at the bar, despite her being heavily pregnant.

"Look at them. Like they own this damn place."  
>"Mike actually does."<br>"What?"  
>"Yeah. It's sort of a side project for him. Which conveniently coincided with the breakdown of our marriage."<br>"Are you going to talk to them?"  
>"If they talk to us, I guess. I hate her."<p>

Ned looked at Cara, taking a double take when he looked at her abdomen. How far along had Alice said she was? Four months? She looked like she was about to blow! He sighed, drinking a large gulp of his beer as Bruce and Elizabeth sat down with them.

"Elizabeth, dear, why is Bruce here?"  
>"He's my FWB!"<br>"Your what?"

Opposite him, Steven choked on a piece of bread. He took a sip of the water Billie offered him.

"My friend with benefits!"  
>"What? Elizabeth, have you lost your ever loving mind? Your mother's former fiance dies in a horrible car wreck and you make his son your friend with benefits?"<br>"Well it's better than how Steven and Cara stayed together!"  
>"Excuse me?"<br>"She was cheating on him for months with that Mike guy! She was! And then when Jessica caught him and Aaron kissing-"

***

"Billie? Billie, honey, come on. Can you let me in?"  
>"Fine."<p>

Billie opened the restroom door to find Steven standing there, a sympathetic expression on his face. She let him in, finding herself enveloped in a tight hug, and he let her cry. She hadn't known. For over a year. She hadn't noticed that her husband had been cheating on her. For over a year. She was so stupid.

"You know, it's not so bad. I didn't know either."  
>"I know. But it still sucks. I tried so hard to fix things, I really did. And to find out that he had a bit on the side the entire time we were having problems-a married bit on the side..."<br>"I know. And I don't think you should have been lead on like that."  
>"What about you?"<br>"What?"  
>"Cara lead you on too!"<br>"I know. But we had been having problems for awhile. We were bound to end it sooner or later-it would have never been pretty. We got married too young-she was never really in love with me-and for all the wrong reasons."  
>"Was she pregnant?"<br>"No. She wanted to marry me so she could stay in Sweet Valley."  
>"Oh."<p>

She snuggled into his chest, feeling comforted by the fact that he'd cared enough about her to follow her into the ladies room.

"And I thought we were in love at first, I really did, but things kinda just...stayed the same. She was still "sixteen" in a sense-she never worked, she spent all her money that her parents sent her on frivolous things, she dicked around with various sorority girls, she did nothing with the math degree she got, going so far as to tell people it was my fault-and on the other hand I'd matured."  
>"Matured? Honey you got caught kissing a guy!"<br>"I know. But that was just drunken stupidity. Not that it mattered, anyways, 'cause she was already cheating on me."  
>"It sucks, don't it? You think when you get married that it's for forever. You think that things will always be loveydovey and perfect. And then the reality of the situation hits and it sucks if it's not the right person."<br>"Yeah."  
>"I think you're the right person."<br>"You do?"

She blushed a bright red and he looked pleasantly surprised-she couldn't believe she'd said that out loud! She was stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Yeah."  
>"Hey, I think so too."<br>"You do?"  
>"Yeah. Of course I do. I love you, you know that. Right?"<br>"Of course I do. I love you too."

She heard a knock on the bathroom door and she sighed. He took her by the hand, and they exited the bathroom-faced with Cara Walker. Who at least had the dignity to look somewhat abashed. They stared at each other, neither one moving.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it. It was wrong. To both of you."  
>"Whatever."<br>"What? I apologized!"  
>"It's just I find it awfully odd that my ex-husband was cheesed off that I got pregnant while now he's all happy that you're knocked up."<br>"I was pregnant when you got pregnant."  
>"What?"<p>

The only thing stopping her from decking her was the fact that she was obviously heavily pregnant and Billie really enjoyed babies-they were lovable and she could cuddle them for hours. Mike, on the other hand, was fair game.

"You bastard! You fucking bastard! She was pregnant when I had my miscarriage! I knew it!"  
>"Billie, I-"<br>"You can what, Mike? Explain! What's there to explain?"  
>"It just-"<p>

Her fist connected with his face-hard-and the force of the punch sent him back against the bar, knocking down the drinks, but she didn't care.

"You're a jackass!"  
>"I guess I deserved that."<br>"You guess? You guess? You guess?"  
>"Hey, chill out-"<br>"I didn't think you could sink any lower, McAllery. I really didn't."  
>"I think you gave me a black eye!"<p>

_A few minutes later_

"That could have gone better."  
>"I know, Dad, I know."<br>"Your mother didn't even notice the altercation Billie and Mike got into-she was thankfully distracted by the fact that Elizabeth and Bruce were making out over the soup course."  
>"Ew...I'm thinking Billie and I should just leave."<br>"That would probably be wise."  
>"Okay. Sorry, Dad."<br>"I don't blame you."

Steven approached his sobbing girlfriend and picked her up, carrying her out of the restaurant. He had known this would have been the worst idea ever. He should have begged off. Now everything was ruined, all because of the restaurant his mother had picked for her birthday dinner. He carried her out to the car, relieved when her sobs lessened, and finally stopped. He hated when she cried.

"You hate me, don't you?"  
>"Oh, Billie, no. Of course not."<br>"But I punched Mike."  
>"So? He deserved it. There are better ways to handle things than how he handled it."<br>"She's nine months pregnant. I should have known. I should have known he was lyin' to me."  
>"Shush. It's okay. It's not your fault. We're entitled to emotions."<br>"I hate him."  
>"I'm not too thrilled with Cara either."<br>"Are you mad at me?"  
>"No."<br>"Okay. 'Cause thinking back, I think I knew. I think there were signs."

_"Who is she, Mike?"  
>"That's Cara. She's just the pastry chef at the pub. That's all."<br>"Why does a pub need a pasty chef?"  
>"We just do-that's all."<em>

Why had she believed him? Why hadn't she seen the signs?

_"See? I told you there's nothing between us. She's married. Look, that's her husband."_

She'd trusted him.

"There were signs for me, too. Suddenly Cara developed an interest in not freeloading off me."

_This was definitely odd. Cara Walker-Wakefield had finally, without prodding, obtained a job. A real job. As a __pastry chef. At some real, existing restaurant. Sure, the restaurant was owned by Jessica's ex-husband, Mike, but they were casual friends. And he was so relieved she'd finally gotten a job that he didn't dare say anything to ruin it._

"It soon turned into something more, I suspected, but she told me I was being stupid."

_"You really think there's something between Mike and I? He's married, you insecure jerk. I'd never break up a marriage!"  
>"Cara, I-"<br>"Just 'cause I don't want children? Really, Steven?"  
>"That has nothing to do with this!"<em> 


	9. Caught in the Middle

Chapter 9

_A month later_

"Hello?"  
>"Billie?"<br>"Do you have any idea what time it is? What do you need?"  
>"I know it's late. Look, Cara had the baby-"<br>"That's just wonderful. Congratulations. What do you need?"  
>"Well, your boyfriend's mother is here."<br>"That's nic...wait, what? It's four in the morning!"  
>"I know. And I assure you, she's here. She's torturing the baby."<br>"Oh, God...What do you want me to do?"  
>"Well, I was hoping you could get her-"<br>"She won't leave?"

Billie knew that she already knew the answer to that question, and she bit back a groan. She hated Mike. She hated Cara. She hated Alice. But she didn't hate the poor innocent newborn that was being bothered by Alice-no matter who its parents were or that it had been conceived when its father was still married to her, or that said father and mother had hastened the-her hateful, half asleep, internal monologue was interrupted by a series of tortured wails. From the baby. And she didn't want the baby to cry!

Babies were cute and cuddly and she was good with them!

"No-"  
>"Hold on, Mike. I'm coming. You owe me."<br>"You gave me a black eye!"  
>"You deserved that. That baby doesn't deserve being cleaned by Alice."<br>"Cleaned?"

She hung up the phone-she really hated both her ex-husband and her boyfriend's mother for putting her in this position-and she gently shook Steven's shoulder, successfully waking him.

"You okay?"  
>"We have to go to the hospital. Your mother is cleaning a baby."<br>"What?"  
>"Your. Mother. Is. Cleaning. A. Baby."<br>"Jesus Christ. Who-"  
>"Cara and Mike's. And it's crying and I hate when babies cry and I kinda said we'd go deal with her because it sounded so sad!"<br>"Okay. We'll go. Did you test yet?"  
>"Not yet. It's too soon."<p>

He kissed her lightly on the lips, giving her a sleepy grin. Sometime over the course of the month, they'd decided to start (rather casually) trying for a baby. She wasn't really expecting it to happen anytime soon, but she hoped (oh, yes, she hoped) that it would. She was doing everything right this time. She'd stopped drinking, they'd both managed to mostly quit smoking, and she was even seeing a therapist-that had been her idea. She knew she needed someone impartial to talk to. And it had actually helped. A lot.

"How much longer?"

She'd made the mistake of telling him that she was slightly tardy with her monthly visitor, and he'd been overjoyed. She hoped that they had a little baby growing inside of her, she did, but she didn't want to hope-and then have it not happen. Steven hadn't experienced the loss of a pregnancy. She never wanted him to.

"A few more days."  
>"Will you let me be there?"<br>"...Of course."  
>"You promise?"<br>"Yeah."  
>"Good."<br>"I will...you'll be there. I promise."  
>"Thanks, babe."<br>"You're welcome. Your mother-"  
>"Aw, shit."<p>

_Twenty Minutes Later_

"-and furthermore, you put me and Billie in an uncomfortable position-don't even get me started on how you make Dad look. You cannot clean a baby, especially at four in the morning! How did you even find out about this?"  
>"Cara posted it on facebook!"<br>"I don't care if Cara posted it on facebook, she has just given birth and you should have known better! Now, come on, apologize to Cara and Mike and go home!"  
>"How come you let her hold the baby? And not me?"<br>"Because Billie is behaving like an adult, mother. You, as usual, aren't."  
>"So?"<br>"So Billie is allowed to hold the baby. Besides, you don't want her to punch Mike again, do you?"

She'd likely never live that down.

"Would I-"  
>"No, Mom. No cleaning. Going home and getting to bed."<p>

In her arms, the baby made a happy noise, and she smiled happily at her.

"Come on, let's give you back to your mommy. Steven and I have to go bring his meanie mommy home."

She stood and handed her to Cara-she didn't want to know the baby's name, she didn't care, but she was glad to have held her for a bit.

"Thanks."  
>"It was nothing."<br>"I-"  
>"No. It was nothing. Good luck."<br>"I-"  
>"She's a cute baby, Cara. Good luck."<p>

She tugged on Steven's jacket's sleeve, just wanting to go home.


End file.
